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"White people problems." Is it racist?

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entremet

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Creating a thread for the massive derail on the Wired thread, stemming from this quote:

It proved difficult to fulfill orders for 950 prints (not to mention 660 hand-screened T-shirt bonus gifts). "I did not budget my time at all," Saleem says. "Suddenly I have all these white-people problems, and I'm not even white."

Is that racist? Why? Why not? Discuss.
 
It's racist against black people because it implies they don't know about having too much work.

Boy, I sure hope this isn't bannable
 
No.

Why, because it reminds White people that they have 16x (or something like that) the wealth at poverty levels than black or brown people at poverty levels?

The only reason it's an issue is because White people feel like they should have something to be offended by. I, as a White man, can tell you that it doesn't even touch my feelings. Seriously.
 
It's just a joke and really not even particularly offensive in my opinion. There's no history of white people having worse problems than any other group so it's not a big deal.
 
There's an argument that racism = prejuduce + power.

So for a prejudice to become racism, it needs to be levelled by a group with institutional power over the group that the prejudice is towards. So prejudice against black people becomes racism because white people as a group have instituional power over black people. Without that power advantage, prejudice doesn't have anything like the same consequences, so it's not racism.

You may agree or disagree with this formulation, or that it necessarily means that black people can't be racist.
 
No.

Why, because it reminds White people that they have 16x (or something like that) the wealth at poverty levels than black or brown people at poverty levels?

The only reason it's an issue is because White people feel like they should have something to be offended by. I, as a White man, can tell you that it doesn't even touch my feelings. Seriously.

Generalisations are bullshit. I'm poor. I'm struggling. I don't care if on average white people have more money. I don't. My problems are meaningful and I am not my race.
 
rac·ism [rey-siz-uhm]

noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.

3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

It isn't, and anyone who says it is is just looking for an argument. Stereotyping can be racist, but not necessarily.
 
Generalisations are bullshit. I'm poor. I'm struggling. I don't care if on average white people have more money. I don't. My problems are meaningful and I am not my race.

Yeah but your problems don't stem from your race and how others see it neither. Last I checked we don't get killed because "crackers deserve it."
 
A little racist, but generally harmless because the implication is that "the white majority are oftentimes better off than minorities in identical situations", which isn't really an insult. It's more like jealousy and bitterness.
 
It implies that white people cant have "real" problems. Pure us vs them thinking.

But I also find it funny as it kinda boosts my ego a bit just being white
 
The sentence is a little out of context.

The entire story involves him getting "too much money" and not being able to handle it.. complaining about things like having to pay a large tax bill (which he might get back anyways.)

Other than that, it's just a joke based on the disparity between socioeconomic conditions of "whites" and other races, on average, in most Western powers.

Not racist at all IMO. Racism is when you actually discuss how people are superior or inferior based on race, jokes like that are more of a joke about the current state of CULTURE and SOCIETY than race.

However some white people tend to get angry when minorities say stuff like that.. it becomes this "Hey, how come I can't say something stereotypical about black people!!"

Which isn't really true.

White people joke about the "black people have huge dicks" stereotype ALL THE TIME.

And do you see black people get offended at the stereotype?

I never personally have.

So it's not REALLY some double standard.. if the joke was meant to disparage white people, then maybe it would be.

It's not.

If anything, as I stated in the other thread.. minorities might take offense to it, not whites.. but again, it's not really saying "white people make more money because white people are superior".. it's just joking about a very real statistical representation of society.

IMO, it's unhealthy to not be able to express such jokes.. or to take too much offense. Same with jokes about other STATISTICS.. they often are meant to shed light on, while COPING with why these statistics exist. It's not a STEREOTYPE if there is real statistical backing.

I've been banned for telling jokes involving other races on this forum.. despite the fact my INTENT was to simply bring up horrible disparities between where people end up in our country, and to poke fun at "racists" really.. who make racists statements without taking into account WHY the disparity exists.
 
Isn't the correct term 'first-world problems'?

This is actually probably a better term. While I think WPP can work for some things, like your Polo shirt got ruined or whatever, FWP is a lot broader and more on-point in most cases.

That said, FWP does make me uncomfortable after a while like all self-effacing humor that identifies a flaw but instead of actually doing anything about it, seems to think that mere acknowledgement is sufficient. It's like all those OMG WE'RE SO RACIST RIGHT? shows and movies. Self-effacing humor has gotten really gross and distorted the past ten years or so.
 
It's pretty much the same as "first world problems" in terms of the way it is used.

Using the term "first world problems" is better imo (less offensive) and shows that you are joking.
 
Yeah but your problems don't stem from your race and how others see it neither. Last I checked we don't get killed because "crackers deserve it."

Well the revolution hasn't started so obviously this isn't going to be the case.
You know what to do when the time comes, Time Dog
 
The sentence is a little out of context.

The entire story involves him getting "too much money" and not being able to handle it.. complaining about things like having to pay a large tax bill (which he might get back anyways.)

Other than that, it's just a joke based on the disparity between socioeconomic conditions of "whites" and other races, on average, in most Western powers.

Not racist at all IMO. Racism is when you actually discuss how people are superior or inferior based on race, jokes like that are more of a joke about the current state of CULTURE and SOCIETY than race.

However some white people tend to get angry when minorities say stuff like that.. it becomes this "Hey, how come I can't say something stereotypical about black people!!"

Which isn't really true.

White people joke about the "black people have huge dicks" stereotype ALL THE TIME.

And do you see black people get offended at the stereotype?

I never personally have.

So it's not REALLY some double standard.. if the joke was meant to disparage white people, then maybe it would be.

It's not.
That's all, folks.
 
so 'white people problems' here means you're beyond successful, over achieving and you can't keep up with your greatness. yeah, definitely racist.
 
My son heard "white people problems" the other day and didn't understand, so he asked me, his security blanket in his mouth, "Why do people hate us, Daddy?" I said because of the color of our skin. "Why can't we all just get along?" Because our people are the most hated in America and everyone wants to kill us and take away our freedom of religion and to have guns.

Only not really.
 
The sentence is a little out of context.

The entire story involves him getting "too much money" and not being able to handle it.. complaining about things like having to pay a large tax bill (which he might get back anyways.)

Other than that, it's just a joke based on the disparity between socioeconomic conditions of "whites" and other races, on average, in most Western powers.

Not racist at all IMO. Racism is when you actually discuss how people are superior or inferior based on race, jokes like that are more of a joke about the current state of CULTURE and SOCIETY than race.

However some white people tend to get angry when minorities say stuff like that.. it becomes this "Hey, how come I can't say something stereotypical about black people!!"

Which isn't really true.

White people joke about the "black people have huge dicks" stereotype ALL THE TIME.

And do you see black people get offended at the stereotype?

I never personally have.

So it's not REALLY some double standard.. if the joke was meant to disparage white people, then maybe it would be.

It's not.
Yep. It's not black and white. No pun intended.


so 'white people problems' here means you're beyond successful, over achieving and you can't keep up with your greatness. yeah, definitely racist.

It is racist if a non white person says it?
 
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